All that you need to know about the new EMV chip credit card payment system

There was a deadline for all the US retailers to switch their payment mode to the technology that is called EMV. This implies that you will now require verifying your credit card both with a swipe and also with a chip. The payment industry experts have spoken about how EMV works, all that is happening in the industry and what EMV might mean for an average shopper. Read on to know more on this.

A crash course on EMV

If you still don’t know what EMV stands for, then its Europay, MasterCard and Visa which are the 3 main companies which introduced the details of this specific technology. However, now it is supported by different companies like American Express, Discover, UnionPay via an organization that is called EMVCo.

EMV cards have got microprocessor chips which make it tougher for the identity thieves to steal your account details whenever you’re making a transaction. Previously with the magnetic stripe cards, the number remains static which means that the same number is generated for every single transaction. This makes it relatively easy for the fraudsters to hack the network or the credit card terminal and steal that number.

However, the microprocessor chip that you find in the EMV card will generate a unique code for every single transaction. Even though there is a scammer who has grabbed the code from some store, he won’t be able to use it again as the number won’t work ever again for the second time. A senior manager of a credit card issuing company says that the EMV chip cards have the same details as the magnetic stripe cards but the code that is generated is unique and it may get reorganized with every single purchase. There are different variables which are taken into account by the generated code and this isn’t linked to the account of the card member.

Credit card fraud and the new rules

1st October was the deadline for this EMV switchover which the payment industry has provided to the retailers. Since this day, all those retailers who won’t welcome EMV payment might be liable for the cost of counterfeit fraud. SumUp can help such retailers with EMV credit cards. Credit card fraud might deal with identity thieves stealing the credit card numbers and using the number to make a copy of the victim’s card.

When the stores accept EMV payments, the card issuing companies still accept liability for identity theft and other fraud. This is true even when the store receives EMV payments and also magnetic stripe payments. If neither any of the parties nor both the parties are compliant with EMV, the fraud liability will stay as same as it is at the present day.

In spite of the deadline for majority of the retailers, the migration to EMV is just not happening. This is indeed a long and slow process and this shift of liability is regarded as a big milestone. If you are someone who has still not shifted, be quick to make the change.